Horla works some more Grimms magic for a fantastical evening

Review by Tom O'Riordan

WHY dont you get away from the humdrum of Christmas and let the imaginative
theatrical company of Grimms II transport you to lands of magic, horror,
mystery and fun? The production is currently running until December 21 at
the Rose & Crown pub in Hampton Wick, Surrey.

For just over two hours, the Horla Theatre Company has put together an intimate
set, where the audience can creep in the shadows of witchs caves, devils
sand banks and a fishermans 'piss pot' of a home.

Act One opens with a witch skulking into view, her minions echoing her every
word. We see real heartache in the Monkeys Paw, a comedic fish
in The Fisherman & His Wife, fit for a Guinness advert and stirring
storytelling by Ruth Connelly, with a macabre slant on the 'Cinderella Story'.

Dominique Gerrard serves up a deliciously twitchy Lucifer in The Fisherman
& The Devil, stalking her seemingly harmless prey with real gusto.

The Singing Po is hilarious  with Dom Currie suffering a very
watery demise. While in The Butler, an engaging Andrew Jones serves
up a wicked servant, that would have the Admirable Crichton turning in his
grave.

Finally, Irena Pearse reveals how the Seven dwarfs met a disturbing end before
a 10-minute interval.

Act Two begins with a familiar Hitchcock Prison homage, with Andrew Jones
again using his dulcet tones to lead you round the stage in the darkness.

The
Baba Yaga has great slapstick energy ("the what? no the witch!
I hear you cry") , before Irena Pearse beckons us into her candlelit
cave for the Godfather's Death.

For the finale, Snow White, the whole company unleash to their singing,
dancing and puppetry skills on an impressed audience (note to the puppeteers:
can I have Graeme, the puppet, when you are finished, please)!!!

Go on, get down to the Grimms II, "the hour has come, this deed
must be done"!